{"id":2119,"date":"2024-04-22T11:43:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T11:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/in-face-of-modi-juggernaut-indias-opposition-appears-increasingly-weak\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T11:43:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T11:43:17","slug":"in-face-of-modi-juggernaut-indias-opposition-appears-increasingly-weak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/in-face-of-modi-juggernaut-indias-opposition-appears-increasingly-weak\/","title":{"rendered":"In face of Modi juggernaut, India\u2019s opposition appears increasingly weak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the searing New Delhi sun, more than a dozen of India\u2019s top opposition leaders joined hands in a rare show of unity imploring voters to \u201csave democracy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Standing before thousands of supporters at the city\u2019s historic and politically important Ramlila Maidan, the March 31 rally marked the opposition\u2019s strongest attempt yet to sway voters against electing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a third straight term. <\/p>\n

The consequence of continued Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule, they say, would be the erosion of the very foundation upon which modern India was built: democracy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis election is for saving democracy and we must fight united,\u201d main opposition party Indian National Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge told the crowds, who were waving the party flag of orange, white and green. \u201cThere is no level playing field in this election.\u201d <\/p>\n

It echoed a similar rally more than 40 years earlier on the same spot, when opposition leaders fired up huge crowds to help change the course of the 1977 election \u2013 ending the 10-year rule of India\u2019s powerful third prime minister and political scion Indira Gandhi. <\/p>\n

Gandhi had imposed a state of emergency, jailed key opposition leaders and curtailed civil freedoms. To some, India\u2019s future was perched on a needle point between autocracy and democracy. She lost the election and, in the eyes of many, India\u2019s democracy was saved. <\/p>\n

To many supporters in the crowd three weeks ago, India is now at a similar crossroads with this high-stakes election deciding which path the country follows. <\/p>\n

Democracy under threat?<\/h2>\n

Unless there is a major upset, Modi\u2019s BJP is set to win its third straight five-year term thanks to his potent, populist mix of economic empowerment and Hindu nationalism. <\/p>\n

According to 2023 Pew research, about eight in 10 Indian adults have a favorable view of Modi, including 55% who have a very favorable view. Such levels of popularity for a two-term incumbent prime minister defy all modern conventions, both in India and throughout much of the democratic world. <\/p>\n

But India\u2019s opposition leaders accuse Modi\u2019s right-wing government of becoming an electoral autocracy by attempting to rig the vote, weaponizing state agencies to stifle, attack and arrest opposition politicians, and undermining democratic principles ahead of elections, which began on April 19 and run until June 1, with results counted on June 4. <\/p>\n

They also warn Modi\u2019s brand of Hindu nationalism is uncorking dangerous religious divides in a country with a long and tragic history of sectarian bloodletting. <\/p>\n

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